The first broadcasting receiving licence was introduced in 1904 to cover the reception of radio broadcasts. It is paid annually.

Historical timeline Amateur radio reception licensing The introduction of receiving licences was implemented by the General Post Office (GPO) using powers within the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904. Section 2 of the act allowed the Postmaster General to charge for the issuing of licenses permitting the "experimental" receipt of radio transmissions. The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904 was introduced as a temporary measure, and required annual extensions by Parliament until replaced by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949.

A return made to Parliament in June 1906 showed that in the first two years of operation only sixty eight receiving licences were issued. By April 1913 the number had, according to figures then released by the GPO, risen to two thousand.

The First World War resulted in all licence holders receiving notice on 1 August 1914 from the Postmaster General that they were required to dismantle their receiving equipment, their broadcast receiving licences having been suspended.

In 1920, the Post Office licensed a small number of experimental transmitting stations, making general broadcasts.

BBC At the instigation of the Post Office, the British Broadcasting Company was established in October 1922 by a group of radio manufacturers to produce radio programmes for the users of their products. Initially the broadcasts were funded by the sale of radio receiving sets, and carried sponsored programmes.

As part of the agreement with the Post Office, the Postmaster General, Neville Chamberlain, started to apply a condition to broadcast receiving licences that the equipment used be "Type Approved by Postmaster General" and marked with the BBC logo.

Initially, the fee for receiving licences was 10 shillings, and remained at that rate until after the Second World War.

With the forming of the public British Broadcasting Corporation in 1927, the Post Office dedicated nearly the entirety of licence fee income to the funding of the BBC.

Television The standard broadcast receiving licences covered reception of the BBC's 405-line television service between November 1936 and September 1939 at no additional cost.

The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 led to the suspension of television broadcasts in the UK.

The television licence was introduced in June 1946 to coincide with the post-war resumption of the BBC service the same month. Television licences always included a licence to receive radio broadcasts.

From 1971, only the reception of television transmissions required a licence, and radio-only licences ceased to be issued.

Colour television The colour television licence (actually a "colour supplementary fee" of £5 on top of the existing monochrome licence) was introduced in 1968, following the commencement of BBC2 colour transmissions the previous July.

Changing cost of the licence fee Date Radio only Monochrome TV Colour TV November 1922 £0.5 (10s) June 1946 £1 £2 June 1954 £1 £3 August 1957 £1 £3 + October 1963 £1 £4 August 1965 £1.25 (£1 5s) £5 January 1968 £1.25 (£1 5s) £5 £10 January 1969 £1.25 (£1 5s) £6 £11 July 1971 £7 £12 April 1975 £8 £18 July 1977 £9 £21 November 1978 £10 £25 November 1979 £12 £34 December 1981 £15 £46 March 1985 £18 £58 April 1988 £21 £62.50 April 1989 £22 £66 April 1990 £24 £71 April 1991 £25.50 £77 April 1992 £26.50 £80 April 1993 £27.50 £83 April 1994 £28 £84.50 April 1995 £28.50 £86.50 April 1996 £30 £89.50 April 1997 £30.50 £91.50 April 1998 £32.50 £97.50 April 1999 £33.50 £101 April 2000 £34.50 £104 April 2001 £36.50 £109 April 2002 £37.50 £112 April 2003 £38.50 £116 April 2004 £40.50 £121 April 2005 £42 £126.50 April 2006 £44 £131.50 April 2007 £45.50 £135.50 April 2008 £47 £139.50 April 2009 £48 £142.50 April 2010 £49 £145.50 April 2017 £49.50 £147 April 2018 £50.50 £150.50 April 2019 £52 £154.50 April 2020 £53 £157.50 April 2021 £53.50 £159 April 2024 £57 £169.50 April 2025 £58.50 £174.50 April 2026 £60.50 £180

Cost of a colour TV licence

Cost of a colour TV licence (inflation adjusted)

Number of licences issued The number of licences on issue at 31 March or 1 April by year is as follows:

1927-1985 Year Total Issued free toblind people Radio only Radio + B/W TV Radio + colour TV Over 75s Concessionary 1927 2,269,644 5,750 2,263,894 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1928 2,482,873 12,234 2,470,639 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1929 2,731,872 14,505 2,717,367 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1930 3,092,324 16,496 3,075,828 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1931 3,647,722 21,304 3,626,418 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1932 4,621,805 31,513 4,590,292 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1933 5,497,217 35,850 5,461,367 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1934 6,259,653 39,224 6,220,429 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1935 7,011,753 41,868 6,969,885 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1936 7,616,822 44,380 7,572,442 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1937 8,127,636 46,475 8,081,161 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1938 8,588,676 49,730 8,538,946 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1939 8,968,338 52,621 8,915,717 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1940 8,951,045 53,427 8,897,618 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1941 8,752,454 50,555 8,701,899 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1942 8,683,098 47,456 8,635,642 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1943 9,242,040 48,399 9,193,641 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1944 9,554,838 48,124 9,506,714 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1945 9,710,230 46,861 9,663,369 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1946 10,395,551 47,720 10,347,831 N/A N/A N/A N/A 1947 10,777,704 49,846 10,713,298 14,560 N/A N/A N/A 1948 11,179,676 52,135 11,081,977 45,564 N/A N/A N/A 1949 11,747,448 53,654 11,567,227 126,567 N/A N/A N/A 1950 12,219,448 56,376 11,819,190 343,882 N/A N/A N/A 1951 12,369,027 58,161 11,546,925 763,941 N/A N/A N/A 1952 12,753,506 60,105 11,244,141 1,449,260 N/A N/A N/A 1953 12,892,231 61,095 10,688,684 2,142,452 N/A N/A N/A 1954 13,436,793 62,389 10,125,512 3,248,892 N/A N/A N/A 1955 13,980,496 62,506 9,414,224 4,503,766 N/A N/A N/A 1956 14,261,551 62,745 8,459,213 5,739,593 N/A N/A N/A 1957 14,525,099 62,453 7,496,390 6,966,256 N/A N/A N/A 1958 14,646,350 61,387 6,494,960 8,090,003 N/A N/A N/A 1959 14,736,413 57,784 5,423,207 9,255,422 N/A N/A N/A 1960 15,005,011 54,958 4,480,300 10,469,753 N/A N/A N/A 1961 15,176,725 50,852 3,858,132 11,267,741 N/A N/A N/A 1962 15,372,219 46,782 3,491,725 11,833,712 N/A N/A N/A 1963 15,698,991 43,371 3,212,814 12,442,806 N/A N/A N/A 1964 15,884,679 40,337 2,959,011 12,885,331 N/A N/A N/A 1965 16,046,603 34,355 2,759,203 13,253,045 N/A N/A N/A 1966 16,178,156 31,499 2,579,567 13,567,090 N/A N/A N/A 1967 16,773,205 29,662 2,476,272 14,267,271 N/A N/A N/A 1968 17,645,821 27,564 2,529,750 15,068,079 20,428 N/A N/A 1969 17,959,933 24,966 2,438,906 15,396,642 99,419 N/A N/A 1970 18,183,719 22,174 2,279,017 15,609,131 273,397 N/A N/A 1971 15,943,190 N/A N/A 15,333,221 609,969 N/A N/A 1972 16,658,451 N/A N/A 15,023,691 1,634,760 N/A N/A 1973 17,124,619 N/A N/A 13,792,623 3,331,996 N/A N/A 1974 17,324,570 N/A N/A 11,766,424 5,558,146 N/A N/A 1975 17,700,815 N/A N/A 10,120,493 7,580,322 N/A N/A 1976 17,787,984 N/A N/A 9,148,732 8,639,252 N/A N/A 1977 18,056,058 N/A N/A 8,098,386 9,957,672 N/A N/A 1978 18,148,918 N/A N/A 7,099,726 11,049,192 N/A N/A 1979 18,381,161 N/A N/A 6,249,716 12,131,445 N/A N/A 1980 18,284,865 N/A N/A 5,383,125 12,901,740 N/A N/A 1981 18,667,211 N/A N/A 4,887,663 13,779,548 N/A N/A 1982 18,554,220 N/A N/A 4,293,668 14,260,552 N/A N/A 1983 18,494,235 N/A N/A 3,795,587 14,698,648 N/A N/A 1984 18,631,753 N/A N/A 3,261,272 15,370,481 N/A N/A 1985 18,715,937 N/A N/A 2,896,263 15,819,674 N/A N/A 1986 18,704,732 N/A N/A 2,679,396 16,025,336 N/A N/A

1997-present

Year Total Issued free toblind people Radio only Monochrome TV Colour TV Over 75s Concessionary 1997 22,000,000 N/A N/A 500,000 20,800,000 N/A 700,000 1998 22,300,000 N/A N/A 400,000 21,300,000 N/A 600,000 1999 22,800,000 N/A N/A 300,000 21,900,000 N/A 600,000 2000 23,300,000 N/A N/A 200,000 22,400,000 N/A 700,000 2001 23,400,000 N/A N/A 100,000 19,700,000 3,100,000 500,000 2002 23,800,000 N/A N/A 100,000 19,900,000 3,600,000 200,000 2003 24,100,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,100,000 3,700,000 200,000 2004 24,500,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,400,000 3,800,000 200,000 2005 24,700,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,600,000 3,800,000 200,000 2006 25,000,000 N/A N/A 100,000 20,800,000 3,900,000 200,000 2007 25,100,000 N/A N/A 33,000 20,900,000 4,000,000 200,000 2008 25,248,000 N/A N/A 28,000 21,081,000 3,953,000 186,000 2009 25,364,000 N/A N/A 24,000 21,154,000 4,000,000 186,000 2010 25,459,000 N/A N/A 19,000 21,171,000 4,088,000 181,000 2011 25,594,000 N/A N/A 15,000 21,235,000 4,156,000 188,000 2012 25,706,000 N/A N/A 12,000 21,306,000 4,206,000 182,000 2013 25,783,000 N/A N/A 9,000 21,351,000 4,251,000 172,000 2014 25,879,000 N/A N/A 8,000 21,367,000 4,328,000 176,000 2015 25,959,000 N/A N/A 7,000 21,420,000 4,362,000 170,000 2016 25,997,000 N/A N/A 7,000 21,441,000 4,363,000 186,000 2017 26,234,000 N/A N/A 6,000 21,667,000 4,385,000 176,000 2018 26,239,000 N/A N/A 6,000 21,611,000 4,455,000 167,000 2019 26,183,000 N/A N/A 5,000 21,408,000 4,603,000 167,000 2020 25,946,000 N/A N/A 5,000 21,128,000 4,669,999 144,000 2021 25,208,000 N/A N/A 4,000 23,733,000 1,359,000 112,000 2022 24,906,000 N/A N/A 4,000 23,760,000 1,034,000 188,000 2023 24,372,000 N/A N/A 4,000 23,236,000 947,000 185,000 2024 23,888,000 N/A N/A 4,000 22,731,000 964,000 189,000 2025 23,792,000 N/A N/A 3,000 22,574,000 1,020,000 195,000 2026 23,253,000 N/A N/A 3,000 22,026,000 1,025,000 199,000

See also Television licence Television licensing in the United Kingdom

References

Sources Figures for 1927–1955: The British Broadcasting Corporation Annual Report and Accounts for the Year 1954–55 (HMSO 1955) Figures for 1956–1986: BBC Annual Report and Handbook 1987 (BBC 1986) Rounded figure for 1997 & 1998 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 1997/1998 (BBC 2000) Rounded figures for 1999 & 2000 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 1999/2000 (BBC 2000) Rounded figures for 2001 & 2002 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2001/2002 (BBC 2002) Rounded figures for 2003 & 2004 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2003/2004 (BBC 2004) Rounded figures for 2005 & 2006 (at 31 March): BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2005/2006 (BBC 2006) Rounded figures for 2007: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2006/2007 (BBC 2007) Rounded figures for 2008: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2008/2009 (BBC 2009) Rounded figures for 2009: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2009/2010 (BBC 2010) Rounded figures for 2010: BBC Annual Report and Accounts 2010/2011 (BBC 2011)

External links The history of the UK radio licence